30% voter turnout in Shimla civic body polls

Shimla, June 16, 2017: The Shimla Municipal Corporation elections registered an over 30 per cent voter turnout in its 34 seats that went to the polls on Friday.

The elections in all constituencies are going on smoothly. The poll percentage was over 30 per cent by 1 p.m.,” an electoral officer told media.

Voting began on a dull note, with below five per cent polling in the first hour and by 10 a.m. rose to 15 per cent. It picked up gradually as the day progressed.

Long queues of electors were seen across polling centres. At some of booths, voters started reaching even before voting began at 8 a.m.

The voting process will continue between 8 am and 4 pm. For safety at all 153 voting booths as many as 700 civil officials, 450 police officials, HRTC and other departments officials will be deployed on duty.

Unlike earlier elections, when residents elected the mayor and his deputy, this time voters will only elect councillors. The party with the maximum councillors will have internal polling for mayor and deputy mayor.

The main contest is between Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but the candidates are not contesting on party symbol.

Over 91,000 voters will cast their votes to elect 34 councillors.

The BJP has supported 34 candidates, while the Congress 27 and the CPI-M 21 candidates. The Communists are supporting six independents.

The ballots will be counted on Saturday.

The CPI-M, which came to power in 2012, ruled the civic body with just three councillors in the 25-member House. The majority of the councillors were from the Congress.

Tripura CM Manik Sarkar casted his vote at a polling booth in Agartala, he is an MLA from Dhanpur constituency.

Voting for the Assembly elections in India’s northeastern state of Tripura began on Sunday morning amidst tight security, official said.

“Men and women in large numbers queued up in front of many polling stations well before polling opened at 7 a.m. in the entire state. Polling ends at 4 p.m.,” said Sriram Taranikanti, the Chief Electoral Officer.

In all, 2,536,589 people, including 1,250,128 women and 47,803 first-time voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 292 candidates, including 23 women and many independents.

“Apprehending troubles by some tribal outfit, a record 50,000 para-military and other state security personnel have been deployed while two air surveillance team led by senior officials are conducting surveillance by helicopters,” the election official.

WASHINGTON — Russia and other adversaries will continue to engage in cyber warfare to “degrade our democratic values and weaken our alliances,” the nation’s top intelligence official said Tuesday.

“Frankly, the United States is under attack,” Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told the Senate Intelligence Committee, adding that every facet of society is being targeted with cyber intrusions.

In strong language, Coats said Russia President Vladimir Putin has been emboldened by Russia’s successful interference in the 2016 elections and is targeting the 2018 election cycle.

“There should be no doubt that (Putin) views the past effort as successful,” Coats said.

The national intelligence director’s comments come against the backdrop of continuing congressional and criminal investigations into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and whether the Kremlin coordinated their activities with President Trump’s campaign.